This week end my wife and I celebrated our eighteenth wedding anniversary. One of the first things we did was to continue on with our new year resolution of following a balanced budget with no deficit spending. We has many other couples were caught up in the housing bubble by investing in two rental properties as well as our principal residence.
It Sucked!!!
It all came crashing down! As a result, the two rental properties were let go by one to foreclosure and the other in a short sale. We then negotiated a payoff on the second mortgage on our principal residence along with a loan modification on the first mortgage which lowered the monthly mortgage payment on the residence by approximately $1,300 a month.
The rental properties reduced in value by over 50%. The amount of debt we carried on these two properties approximated $800,000. The negative cash flow equaled $800 dollars a month. Evidently, not the best decision in a bubble!
Here gag on This!!!
So, my wife and I committed ourselves to getting our financial house in order by following a budget. We have used our 401K plans to pay off second mortgages and credit cards to improve our monthly cash flow. Still there is much to do since there is more debt to pay off, but at least the deficit is much smaller then it was at this time last year.
It has been a very stressful two years. Last year I was laid off from work for three months, then was able to secure a position but at a 40% reduction in my annual salary. Hopefully, in 2010 my salary will increase which will also improve the budget and the deficit, so as to avoid deficit spending and pay back the money used from the 401K plans.
Hopefully, the fatcats in Washington can get their collective asses together, quit the bickering and back stabbing to ge this economy job started to create jobs and not rely on stimulus money to fuel the economy!
Bodacious BJ
